5 Wedding traditions in Pakistan

Once one has found the perfect partner, the wedding ceremony is one of the most important events for Pakistani people… the women especially. This is one of the things that most families treasure and wish for all their daughters. The ceremonies are usually characterized with lots of glitz and glamor.

Weddings are usually very exciting times for the family with lots of ceremonies before the material day. Fashion is one of the key things for this Pakistani marriage ritual. The clothes are very colorful I must say.

The weddings are usually lengthy I must say. Going by the various marriage ceremonies I have attended, I must say Pakistanis pride themselves on these intriguing traditions and customs. And they can even last up to ten days.

Below are five main traditions that characterize a wedding ceremony in Pakistan.

1. Mayoon

Mayoon is the pampering tradition for the bride-to-be. This when the ladies of the family take care of the main lady in order to make her look beautiful and radiant in time for the main event. This is usually done once a week before the wedding.

The bride to be is given massages, facials and body masks using ubtan, a paste made from turmeric among other ingredients. Apparently showering is skipped for days to allow this ubtan to soak into the skin. Besides the face, she also gets her hair oiled and braided

Today, most Pakistani families skip the Mayoon and concentrate on Mehndi.

2. Mehndi

Mehndi is the henna application ceremony which can be done as late as two to three days before the big day. Initially, the grooms family would bring trays of the henna paste to the bride’s family to be decoratively applied on her hands and legs.

Her female relatives and friends attended the ceremony and a professional henna artist would be invited to beautifully and artistically embellish the leading ladies’ limbs. Simultaneously, the groom would have his hair applied with some oil called tael.

3. Baraat

Baraat is another one of the major functions characterizing Pakistani marriages. This is a procession ceremony where the family and friends of the groom would march to the brides home. The whole point of this tradition is so that the groom picks his bride.

Drums and fireworks hype the event making it fun and vibrant. The relatives and friends would dance away to the rhythms when they got to the bride’s home… (no dancing for the groom though) as the bride’s side of the family expectantly received them.

In order for the groom to be let into the house, the bride’s sisters would block him from entering the venue until he produced an amount of money acceptable to them.This they call Dhood Pilai. This little dance goes on for a while until he’s finally given his Mrs.

4. Suhaag Raat

Well, this is a tradition I am sure most Pakistani men look forward to. Its dubbed the golden night where as expected, the ‘woman’ gets her virginity broken. Before the ceremony would take place at home. Apparently, mothers would spread a white bedsheet while the couple had sex in order to prove that the girl is truly a virgin.

These days, couples just get a hotel room.

5. Walima

The long-awaited event is finally here! How the event and the wedding reception goes down depends on the family, venue, guests and a family’s financial status. The clothes, especially for the bride are glamorous, accessorized with Jewelry given to her by the groom.

During this extravagant event, you will see high-end cars, colorful venues, courses of meals, glammed up bridal and grooms parties, wedding cake and gifts.

Whenever in Pakistan and you here of a wedding ceremony, you better attend!